Aidan Gillen sparks a hunt for buried Celtic gold in BBC’s Tall Tales & Murder

Aidan Gillen, Ella-Lily Hyland and Philippa Dunne are among the cast of Tall Tales & Murder, a new darkly comic crime drama coming to BBC One this autumn.

The six-part series follows Bridget (Hyland), an unconventional nurse working nights at a Dublin nursing home, and Paul (newcomer Casey Walsh), a young car thief attempting to repay a debt to crime boss Ma Baker (Dunne).

Their first shift together takes an unexpected turn when a mysterious comatose patient known as Anonymous (Gillen) wakes up and claims to be long-lost gangster Grinner McNair. He also reveals the existence of a buried hoard of Celtic gold – potentially offering Bridget and Paul a way out of their troubles, if they can find it before anyone else.

Their search brings them up against gangster Wesley Swanson, played by Peaky Blinders’ Packy Lee, while the contemporary story is interwoven with an eighth-century tale involving monks, Vikings, buried treasure and a priceless holy book.

Based on Caimh McDonnell’s nine-book Dublin Trilogy, the series comes from Love/Hate creator Stuart Carolan and Chris Addison, who also directs alongside Neasa Hardiman.

With gangsters, an unlikely treasure hunt and two stories separated by more than a millennium, Tall Tales & Murder brings an unusual twist to the crime drama when it arrives later this year.

The editorial unit

Tall Tales & Murder will be released on BBC One and BBC One Northern Ireland in autumn 2026, with a date to be announced.